Library Friends Webinar - Enduring Narratives: The Alchemy of Preservation: The Journey of Sir Isaac Newton’s Alchemical Manuscript at Illinois

A Special Presentation by Lynne M. Thomas, Ruthann Mowry, and Quinn Ferris

Join Lynne M. Thomas, Head of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Ruthann Mowry, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, and Quinn Ferris, Senior Conservator in the department of Library Preservation, for a roundtable discussion of the historical context, acquisition and intensive conservation process for Sir Isaac Newton’s manuscript translation of an alchemical text, Opus Galli anonymi, (ca. 1650), held in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. In addition to this object requiring a chemically complex intervention to stabilize the degradation of Iron Gall Ink, Conservation staff planned, scripted, filmed, and edited the treatment into a feature-length documentary, which is now freely available on The University of Illinois Preservation’s YouTube page.

By valuing both creativity and preservation, universities can ensure their stories endure. Attendees will leave with ideas for fostering partnerships that not only document the present but also preserve it for the future.

Twelve-time Hugo Award winner Lynne M. Thomas is the Head of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library and Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Rare Book and Manuscript Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one of the largest public university rare book collections in the country. She previously served as Head of Distinctive Collections and Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University. She co-authored The Infinite Loop: Archives and Time Travel in the Popular Imagination with Katy Rawdon (SAA Press, 2026), and co-authored Special Collections 2.0, (Libraries Unlimited, 2009) and co-edited  New Directions for Special Collections: An Anthology of Practice, both with Beth Whittaker (ABC-CLIO, 2016), and is a founding member of the Digital POWRR project. An alumna of Smith College with a degree in French and Comparative Literature, she also holds an MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MA in English and American Literature from Northern Illinois University.

Ruthann E. Mowry is a Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts and Assistant Professor at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ruthann holds an M.L.I.S. with a specialization in Rare Books and Manuscripts from Indiana University, complemented by a Master's degree in Ancient History Language Acquisition. Their research centers on the history of magic and the occult in medieval manuscript culture as well as curatorial practices that expand access to special collections and advocate for inclusive engagement across academic and public communities. Ruthann co-chairs the Membership and Professional Development Committee for the Rare Book and Manuscript Section (RBMS) and co-chairs programming for the 2027 RBMS national conference. Their public programming has reached over one million people through social media and tens of thousands of live participants.

Quinn Morgan Ferris is the Senior Conservator for Special Collections and Coordinator of Conservation Services at the University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign, where she started as the Rare Book Conservator in 2016. Previously, she was the Conservation Fellow for Instruction and Outreach at the University of Virginia Library, where she focused on conservation, teaching, and advocacy for special collection items. Quinn is a graduate of NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Center, where she was an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Library and Archives Conservation. Quinn's current position at the U of I includes conservation treatment and planning for Special Collections materials, workflow development and management, supervision, and academic research. She is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Illinois School of Information Sciences, where she teaches on the importance of Preservation and Conservation for Special Collections to MLIS students and mentors prospective conservation students through bench training.